IN THE COURTS:

COLUMBIANA COUNTY COMMON PLEAS

April 7, 2009

An East Liverpool man who robbed the BP service station in Calcutta on May 28 while brandishing a knife was sentenced to prison for two years, with credit for 313 days already served, court documents said.

Kurtis Ventry, 23, of 340 E. Eighth St., appeared for sentencing Friday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court. He pleaded guilty to a second-degree felony charge of robbery on Jan. 27, after originally being charged with aggravated robbery.

Documents said Ventry and a co-defendant entered the store at 736 Dresden Avenue with knives and stole $43 at knifepoint.

Also in Common Pleas Court:

Matthew Hormel, 26, of Struthers, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for possession of heroin, receiving stolen property, forgery and passing bad checks, all felonies, after his intervention contract was terminated due to violations of the terms. His license was suspended for six months. Hormel pleaded guilty to the charges in 2006 and was placed on a treatment plan. Documents said Hormel possessed 72 wax bags containing heroin in the vehicle he was driving on North Walnut Street in East Palestine on Feb. 15, 2005. He also possessed tattoo supplies stolen from Hooligan Ink in Youngstown in December 2004 at his former East Palestine residence on Feb. 16, 2005. He forged a check amount on April 23, 2005 at Vittle Village in New Waterford, changing the original amount of $231 to $831 and presented a bad check for $500 at the Giant Eagle in East Palestine on Nov. 27, 2004, documents said.

Charges of complicity to trafficking in drugs and permitting drug abuse against Frederick Van Dyke, 46, of 601 Sixth St., Wellsville, were dismissed at the request of the prosecution due to the fact that the Columbiana County Drug Task Force "inadvertantly destroyed the .8 grams of cocaine" in connection with the co-defendant's case. Van Dyke had been charged for allegedly helping a woman who sold .8 grams of cocaine at a Wellsville residence on March 14, 2007.

William Jenkins, 29, of Chester, W.Va., was sentenced to six months in prison, with credit for time served from January 2008 to April 2009, after pleading guilty to breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony. Documents said Jenkins trespassed in The Bar on East Fifth Street in East Liverpool on May 9.

Jason W. Barnes, 35, of 945 Center St., Wellsville, pleaded guilty to two counts of non-support of dependents, a fifth-degree felony, with sentencing June 26. Documents said Barnes failed to pay child support for two children from January 2006 to June 2008, with an accumulated arrearage owed of $12,054. He also received credit for time served for a charge of receiving stolen property after his probation was dishonorably terminated for violations of the terms. The charge stemmed from him possessing a stolen check in April 2006, document said.

Nicholas Weyand, 20, of 723 Dewey Ave., East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to possession of drugs, a fourth-degree felony, with sentencing June 5. Documents said Weyand possessed 11 individual plastic bags of crack cocaine in East Liverpool on March 28, 2008.

Thomas Jackson, 59, of 16203 Coolidge Ave., East Liverpool, pleaded guilty to failure to notify sheriff of change of address, a third-degree felony, with sentencing June 1. Documents said Jackson, a registered sex offender, failed to report to the Sheriff's Office in September that he moved from a Lisbon address to the one in East Liverpool.